Kansas: State of the State address at 6:30 tonight

Topeka  Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback is preparing to give the annual State of the State address and outline his legislative agenda.

The speech at 6:30 p.m. tonight will be to a joint House-Senate session in the House chamber. It also will be broadcast live on public television.

Brownback has already proposed phasing in full state funding for public schools’ all-day kindergarten classes at a cost of $16 million the first year. He’s also outlined a $9 million initiative aimed at boosting fourth-graders’ scores on standardized reading tests.

The Republican governor is expected to tout the massive personal income tax cuts that Kansas enacted at his urging.

The Democratic response to the address will be given by House Minority Paul Davis, of Lawrence, who’s challenging Brownback’s re-election this year.